Feb 9, 2012

Things I learnt from the Field Trip

With the week long field trip getting over just today, there is a flow of emotion through me (and my batchmates as well, I presume.) Hence, I decided to dedicate a blog post to the same. Although the primary objective of this 3 credit course was to familiarize us with the lives of Geologists (I admit, that is tough), we ended up doing a lot more.

Getting up at 8:
Unless you did that, you'd end up getting a call from the prof!

Photography through a moving vehicle: Now, that is a first for me. Considering I had travelled to the most picturesque locations in private vehicles, I had the liberty to stop it whenever I wanted to click something(but considering the places I visited during this trip, I'd say Uttarakhand has a lot to offer). With a dozen guys behind you shouting to get back ASAP, needless to say, I did not possess such a luxury this time. However, this did sharpen my photographic skills and yes, taking snaps through the wilderness is indeed nice.

Suspension Bridges are S.C.A.R.Y: At the centre of the suspension bridge Lakshman Jhula in Rishikesh, I could feel I was at the mercy of mother nature with the bridge moving along the wind (although the ultra thick suspension wires were visible). Nonetheless, I gathered enough courage to stand there long enough to take a snap with my friends. It still moved, mind you!

Looks can be deceptive: One of the professors accompanying us has an image among the seniors you couldn't describe as 'good'. Going into the trip, we had certain pre conceived notions about the man which had naturally percolated down through the 'generations'. Nonetheless, we came back wiser, with happy memories.

How to describe this field trip to a layman: To quote Awasthi sir, 'You must tell your friends- We saw rocks. We observed rocks. Different types of rocks. The playground of rocks. The fights of rocks. The building blocks of nature.' Very well put indeed.

Monkeys are pretty damn smart: I had heard stories but never witnessed monkeys at work. This trip gave me the opportunity to observe monkeys (that would include everything from the puny little ones to the langurs; not gorillas or chimps though) fight deers (but running from dogs), eat our leftover noodles, listen to our hand gestures, and most importantly, cornering a friend of mine who was bringing fruits for the others (so much for being the fruit lover.)

Charge your electronics every single day, especially when you are going to inaccessible places: No explanations for this one.

BSNL is the best: I took a lot of pride in the fact that I used Docomo, and every point inside the IITR campus (even the IMG lab) has a very good coverage. However, when you look at the larger scale, the Geologist's playground, Docomo doesn't even exist. BSNL is the only network provider covering the high mountains and the remote villages.

Shivaliks is my third home: Considering the fact that my second home is this, I have realised over the week that the Shivaliks is something I should call my third home (oh, my room at the hostel must hate me for this; Sorry, dear room) as I can foresee a lot more visits to the same!

KFC is where my heart is: After a month in Roorkee(which has sadly, no KFC), we found ourselves in Dehradun trying to observe the faults in the doon valley. That meant I was visiting a KFC after over a month's absence. I would like to describe no more, but I spent more than anyone else, not only fulfilling my desire for fiery grilled chicken there, but also packed some for dinner. Finger lickin' good.

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